Dukes take Towson

By Tim Chapman, sports editor
Posted on November 18, 2007

When playing a staunch defense like the one Towson put on the field this season, even JMU and it’s potent scoring attack had to work for every point it scored.

Although the Dukes sneaked out of the regular season with a win over Towson Sunday they didn’t do it in typical high-scoring fashion. Instead coach Mickey Matthews was forced to rely on his special teams to create the 10-point advantage in a 23-13 grind-it-out battle.

Junior kicker Dave Stannard hit a 36-yard field goal in the first quarter, but it was the first play of the day – a 100-yard kickoff return from sophomore Scotty McGee – that would give JMU the momentum it needed for the “must-win” game to get into the playoffs.

“[After] five weeks out I had the opportunity last week to do something, didn’t get it done, told myself I refused to get caught again,” McGee said.

McGee missed five games prior to last week’s game at William & Mary due to injury, creating a void on the kickoff return unit and in the defensive secondary where he starts at cornerback.

“I’m excited to be out there on the field,” McGee said. “I wanted to be out there rallying with the troops, but I didn’t get the opportunity to a whole lot of games this year.

“Coach Durden was telling me they got a lot of creases, our kickoff team is a steal rod, everybody goes down there on the same level and these guys are just on all different levels so he said there would be creases out there and he was right.”

The Virginia Beach native wasted no time making up for his missed action, he not only took the opening kickoff from about five yards deep in the endzone, but had to catch the ball over his shoulder. He then labored through a number of seams in Towson’s coverage, before out-racing the Tigers for the score.

Towson answered with its West Coast passing offense on its first possession to tie the score at seven. On a methodical drive, Tigers’ junior quarterback Sean Schaefer led his team down the field, completing six of his first eight passes in a 15 play scoring drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown run from senior running back Rasheed McClaude.

Schaefer would lead Towson to another score early in the fourth quarter with his team trailing 23-7, finding junior wide-out Marcus Lee for a 16-yard touchdown. Schaefer finished the game 40-of-59 for 349 yards.

A stagnant Madison offense allowed the Tigers three more opportunities in the fourth quarter, but the Dukes pressure in the backfield disrupted any continuity Schaefer tried to establish late.

“Story of our season all year. We play hard for 60 minutes and we had a play going for us and it would seem like there would be a play against us,” Towson coach Gordy Combs said. “When we got the roughing on [our] punter, we had holding by us. It’s typical of the things that have happened to us all year.”

Towson’s young offensive line, that included two freshmen, was no match for the front-four of the Dukes. Madison registered nine quarterback sacks led by senior defensive tackle John Baranowsky’s four. The face-painted, leader of the defense was on Schaefer’s heels all game, and even knocked him down on game’s last play.

“We knew we needed to get that pressure. It basically was a carry over from last week, this was another opportunity if you win you continue playing,” Baranowsky said. “Around the locker room it was like if you can’t get fired up for that you’re in the wrong spot.”

Offensively JMU went with what worked all year; running the ball and keeping it in the hands of junior quarterback Rodney Landers.

Landers mixed it up right before the half to give JMU a 16-7 lead. On second-and-one from the JMU 39-yard line, Landers hooked up with sophomore tight end Mike Caussin over the middle for 28 yards. On the next play the dual-threat quarterback looked left and hit sophomore receiver Rockeed McCarter for nine yards. Sophomore Boscoe Williams became the third recipient of a Landers pass in the sequence, this one going for six yards and on the right side for a first down to the Towson 18-yard line.

Landers then took it himself on a quarterback draw, running 15 yards before meeting Towson’s Kenny Scott and carrying him the remaining three yards into the endzone to cap the 57 second, 86-yard drive.

“I was able to spring some big runs,” Landers said. “The blocking scheme that we had was pretty much try to capture the edge and pick up the first down. They over-pursued it and I took my time and found the crease.”

Landers struck again early in the fourth quarter on a 23-yard run, where he pulled his best Harry Houdini-impersonation, escaping a tackle and bursting through for the score. Landers finished with 150 rushing yards and 71 passing yards.

The Dukes will now wait until later today to find out when and if they will be playing in the 16-team playoff field. Non-conference losses by Colgate, Georgia Southern and Alabama A&M likely opened up at-large bids for a third and fourth Colonial Athletic team. The selection show is at 3:30.